Unreal Engine 5 for Beginners: A step-by-step guide to building your first playable third-person game

Learn Unreal Engine 5 step by step with this beginner-friendly guide. Build a playable third-person game while working with Blueprints, AI, UI, cinematics, and packaging for real game projects

Key Features

• Learn Unreal Engine 5 by building a complete third-person game step by step
• Develop gameplay systems using Blueprints without writing code
• Create levels, a player character, AI characters, UI, gameplay, and an opening cutscene through the hands-on project

Book Description

Unreal Engine 5 for Beginners is a hands-on guide designed for aspiring developers, students, and hobbyists with little or no prior experience. Instead of overwhelming technical jargon, it takes a clear, step-by-step approach that helps readers quickly get comfortable with Unreal’s powerful tools.

You’ll begin by installing Unreal Engine, setting up your first project, and exploring the editor to build and light simple levels. As you progress, you’ll learn how to script gameplay with Blueprints, create characters with animations, and set up player inputs for smooth control. Later chapters introduce AI-driven enemies, gameplay rules, and mission objectives that bring your world to life.

The book also covers building user interfaces with UMG, producing cinematic cutscenes using Sequencer, and adding polish with visual and audio effects. Finally, you’ll learn optimization techniques and packaging workflows to prepare your game for distribution.

By the end of this book, you’ll have built a fully playable third-person game and gained a solid foundation in Unreal Engine 5. Whether you want to create interactive 3D experiences, prepare for more advanced projects, or take the first step toward a career in game development, this guide gives you the confidence and skills to begin your journey.

What you will learn

• Set up Unreal Engine and create your first project
• Build and edit game levels using the Level Editor
• Create gameplay logic using Blueprints
• Design and animate player characters
• Implement player input and controls
• Add AI-driven enemies and behaviors
• Build UI, cinematics, and package your game

Who this book is for

This book is for aspiring game developers, students, and hobbyists with little or no Unreal Engine experience. Whether transitioning from another engine or starting fresh, readers will find step-by-step guidance accessible. It also suits artists, designers, and programmers who want to create 3D games, prototypes, or simulations through practical, hands-on examples.

Table of Contents

1. Installing Unreal Engine and Creating Your First Game Project
2. Building Your First Game World in the Level Editor
3. Learning the Basics of Blueprints
4. Creating the Player Character
5. Handling Player Inputs
6. Adding Enemy Characters with AI
7. Designing and Implementing the Gameplay Rules
8. Creating Cinematics with Sequencer
9. Building Game Menus and User Interfaces
10. Polishing, Optimizing, and Packaging Your Game

Zhenyu George Li is a veteran software engineer and passionate game developer with over 20 years in the industry. As a Senior Development Software Engineer at Unity, he advances tools and workflows that power modern games. His career spans commercial titles such as Sandbox, Halo Infinite, Magic Arena, Stela, Dead Rising 2, and The Bigs 2. With expertise in engines, AI, graphics, animation, physics, networking, and UI, he brings broad technical depth. George has also taught Unreal Engine, programming, and software engineering at institutions including Vancouver Film School, sharing his knowledge with future developers.

Charles Shih-I Yeh studied computer science at the University of Southern California and began his career in games in the early 2000s. He has built proprietary engines, developed DCC tools to optimize pipelines, and designed gameplay mechanics, multiplayer systems, and tournament services for MMORPGs. Dedicated to education, Charles has lectured on game programming at several universities. He is the author of two game design books and the official Mandarin translator of several well-known programming titles, including Game Programming Gems IV.

Michael Oakes is a Software Development Manager at Unity with nearly a decade in games and 29 years in IT. Based in Calgary, he holds a Master's degree in Computer Science with Games and Graphics Development from the University of Hull. His expertise includes mixed reality design, shader programming, AI, and multiplayer systems. Michael has also contributed as a technical consultant to books such as Unity Learn ML-Agents, Practical AI on the Google Cloud Platform, Unreal Engine 5 Game Development with C++ Scripting, and Practical C++ Game Programming with Data Structures and Algorithms.